


Of Crepes and Casseroles

by Squiped_Mew



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Especially Jaune, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, One Shot, Oscar Pine Needs a Hug, Ozpin is best dad, Set after dead end, Team RWBY needs to chill, Terra Cotta-Arc is a good mom, look if rooster teeth won't give us the farm boy angst we deserve, then ill do it myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 04:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20942393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squiped_Mew/pseuds/Squiped_Mew
Summary: Oscar needs some fresh air after revealing the secret of Salem to JNR.He doesn't want to go back.No one's going to miss him... right?





	Of Crepes and Casseroles

Sitting on top of the roof of a building wasn’t an unfamiliar experience to Oscar. He used to do it all the time back at his house, on the roof of the barn in the early mornings, before his aunt woke up. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine he was back at home instead of on top of an unfamiliar building in a cold city just outside of Atlas, where everyone hated him for a reason outside of his control.

  
  
  


He doesn’t want to go back.

  
  


“Oscar.”

  
  


A familiar, soft voice cuts through his thoughts like a butter knife. Oscar flinches, but doesn’t jump. He’s gotten better at not getting spooked by people suddenly talking.

“Oscar?” Ozpin’s talking again. Hasn’t he been gone for a while? Oscar’s not sure, lost in his increasingly cloudy thoughts and the pain in his arms -

  
  


“Oscar.” Ozpin gently takes control, guiding his hands away from his arms, little crescent shaped wounds where his nails were digging into his skin just a few seconds before. “Take a breath.” Oscar inhales, the cold evening air knifing through his lungs. “Did Jaune hurt you?”

“You… you came back.” Oscar mumbles, fighting down waves of anxiety that he wasn’t quite sure was his own. “Why?”

“I never really left.” There’s a hint of a frown to Ozpin’s voice. “I just figured… everyone needed some time to cool down.” An inhale - which is funny, since Ozpin’s not even the one doing the breathing right now. “Did Jaune hurt you?” He repeats.

“Oh - you’re talking about earlier -“ Thinking back to that moment caused the clouds in his mind to rise up again, knees weakening as he slumped back down to the floor. “I…”

“Take your time.” Ozpin’s voice is gentle, like his aunt when he scraped a knee, or Qrow on a good day. “You’re going to need to breathe, or you’ll have another panic attack.”

“Is - that what that was?” Putting a word to the frantic fog clouding his senses was strangely… helpful. Like there wasn’t something fundamentally wrong with him.

“Yes.”

So he inhales and exhales, trying to calm his fluttering nerves. Ozpin doesn’t say anything, but patiently waits for him to calm down, which is nice of him. 

  
  


It’s certainly nicer than anyone’s been to him in a while.

  
  
  


“...He didn’t hurt me.” Oscar mumbles. “I’m fine. I’m okay - I’m -“

“Are you?”

  
  
  


The silence that follows is suffocating.

  
  
  


“...Even if I try and make it up… all they’ll see me as is a liar.” Oscar says, more to himself than Ozpin. “I wish I hadn’t told them that - about you. Maybe then this wouldn’t have happened.”

  
  
  


Then, something occurred to him. His gold flecked green eyes drift over to the ledge of the roof, the wind stinging his eyes.

  
  


“If you had a new host…”

  
  


“ _ Oscar _ .”

  
  


The genuine fear in Ozpin’s voice snaps him out of his head. He takes a few steps back, nails piercing the sides of his arms again.

  
  
  


“Oscar, let’s get down. Please.” 

  
  


“Yeah,” Oscar breathes. “Okay.”

“Is there something you’d like to do while we’re out here?” Ozpin’s tone is gentle, if not a little shaken. “I don’t think we should go back just yet.”

  
  


“I… could use a coat.” He admits. “I’m quite cold.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Argus at night is… surprisingly quiet. There isn’t too much noise, and the fanfare from the earlier tour has long since died down. The stores are still open, however, and Oscar looks for the cheapest looking clothing shop he can find. 

Feeling the inside of his right pocket, he turns over the few credits he has managed to scrounge up over the past months. There’s about thirty… maybe enough for a really cheap coat?

  
  


“Perhaps we should try the one in the corner.” Ozpin interjects. Oscar looks to see a small, slightly run down store, with a bright red sign reading: 70% OFF! STORE CLOSING!

  
  


He enters, the shop dark and silent. The few lights on the ceiling blink and buzz, and even more have already gone out.

“This place could use some work.” Ozpin mumbles, more to himself than Oscar. And he nods.  
  


“If you ain’t here to buy, then scram.”

A grumpy looking Faunus with dog ears glares at him from across the counter. “I don’t need no gawkers.”

“I wasn’t… sorry sir.” He really doesn’t want to incite anymore conflict today. He’d probably just fold like wet paper.

  
  


“It’s okay to be rattled after what happened.” 

Ozpin’s talking again, and he can faintly detect a hint of… pity? Sadness?

Empathy, Oscar decides. He feels bad.

  
  
  


Oscar grabs the first coat he can find and hurriedly dumps his thirty leas on the counter.

“You’re three leas short.” The Faunus grumps. Oscar freezes.

“I don’t… have anymore money.” The shopkeeper rolls his eyes, shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

“Just take it.” He shoves the jacket and his credits back at Oscar. “Shop’s closin’ down soon anyways.”

“...I’m sorry.”

The Faunus sniffs. “Told you I don’t like gawkers.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

“...Are a lot of shops in Atlas like that?” Oscar asks, taking a bite of the crepe he bought with the leas he had kept. The new jacket was gaudy, sure, but warm. It would do for now, even if it was pretty big. Perhaps some belts…

“Atlas has never been kind to small businesses. It is the capital of monopolies and corporations, after all.” Ozpin replies flippantly. “If you want to start a small business, Minstrel or Vale would be a better bet. You have to be lucky to have your business stay afloat here for two months.”

  
  


Silence again, the only sounds the fanfare from the surrounding park, a symphony of crickets and far away cars.

“I’m sorry.” Oscar says. He can feel Ozpin’s thinly veiled sorrow.

“What for?” The man replies. “You’ve been very kind.”

“I mean - for what happened with Jin.”

  
  


Silence.

  
  


“I didn’t know  _ that’d _ happen. I felt all of that - and it sucked. It was a miracle that I didn’t curl up in a ball and wait for the Grimm or the cold to get me - and that all happened to you. So I can’t imagine -“

“Oscar.”

  
  
  


Ozpin’s gentle tone stops Oscars rambling cold.

  
  


“I… thank you.” He feels moisture prick at his eyes, Oscar was pretty sure it wasn’t his own, bleeding heart as he was. “Some of this is on me, however.”

“I know, but you shouldn’t -“

“It’s… not right for the others to lash out at  _ you _ .” Ozpin’s voice changes from warm, if not slightly saddened, to cold anger. “If It were me Jaune had thrown against the wall - me that Qrow had punched - I wouldn’t be so torn up about it. But you -“ an inhale. “The fact that you are being dragged through the mud along with me… is what truly makes me angry.”

“Oh.” Oscar looks down at his crepe, Ozpin’s words tumbling through his head. “Thank… you?”

  
  


“I just hope… there is some way to fix this.”

Oscar takes a huge bite out of his crepe to try and quell the pit in his stomach. “You and me both,” he says between chews.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Thought I might find you here.” 

Oscar chokes on his mouthful of food, and looks up to see Terra Cotta-Arc looking down at him, a sad smile on her face. “This place is great for when you want to drown your sorrows in some good food.”

Oscar looks away, ignoring Ozpin’s chuckle at her comment, ears flushing. “Yeah.” He mumbles. “I guess.”

She sits down next to him. “Cool coat.” She remarks. 

Oscar looks up at her. “You… think?” He mumbles. Terra nods.

“It’s a bit… big, though. I’ve got a couple of belts back at the house you can borrow.”

The word _house_ sets off the alarm bells in Oscars head, jarring and painful. “No, I -“ he swallows. “I can stay out here.”

“The others aren’t there if that’s what you’re worried about.” Oscar peeks up at that, the cold seated in his bones becoming more apparent. “So… no one’ll harass you.”

“I think you should at least get inside.” Ozpin remarks quietly. “After all, freezing to death is about as fun as it sounds. I should know.”

Oscar stands, pushing back foreign memories of dying alone in the cold, and picks up his bag. “When will they be back?”

“Not sure.” Terra shrugs, turning around. “They went to go look for you.”

Right. They probably wanted to talk to Ozpin.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

“Wanna help me make a casserole?” Terra asks. Oscar freezes, looking around the room. 

“Who - me?” He asks. Terra laughs, and it reminds him far too much of his Aunt -

“Yes you, who else?” She picks up the phone, dialing an unfamiliar number. “I’m gonna let them know you’re okay -“

“ ** _No_ ** .” Both Oscar and Ozpin freeze, backing towards the door. Terra blinks, arm holding the phone dropping. 

“I mean - please don’t.” The last part comes out as a wobbly plea, and Oscar grimaces. “I’m just - I don’t wanna talk to them yet -“

“Woah, woah,” Terra places a hand on his shoulder, and  _ she’s so much like Aunt Do, god he misses her so much - _

“I’m just gonna call Saffron, okay?” Terra resumes dialing. “I’ll make sure she won’t tell the others - but I just need her to not call the police and know you’re okay.” Oscar exhales a breath he didn’t know he was holding, relieved at the prospect of delaying the inevitable confrontation.

When they’re both comfortable in the kitchen, the two of them chopping vegetables, Terra carrots, and Oscar brussel sprouts, she finally spoke.

“You wanna… talk about it?”

He kind of does. But at the same time, it’s like touching a deep cut. It needs to heal before he can really touch it again.

“Not… really.” Oscar mumbles. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be.” Terra looks up from her chopping to smile at him. “It’s okay if you need time. But judging by the state of my wall, it was pretty… bad.”

“Yeah.” Oscar replies, hands shaking slightly as he brushes the vegetables into the meat of the casserole. “It kind of was.”

“And… did Jaune actually throw you against the wall?” Oscar freezes like a deer in headlights, that scene playing before him.

  
  


_ -And Jaune looming over him like a tower, so close to simply reaching forward and crushing his throat in his huge hands - _

“Oscar?” Terra’s looking at him again, having left her chopping to crouch down and look at him eye to eye. “You all right there?”

  
  


He inhales.

Exhales.

“Yeah.” He says finally, when the gray static has washed away. “I’m okay.” 

Terra sighs. “I had no idea that Saffy was related to such a brute.” She starts.

“Jaune’s not usually like that, though!”  Oscar cries out. “He’s usually really nice, I just - I just…”

  
  


“Don’t put the blame on yourself, Oscar.” Ozpin interjects softly. “It’ll only make it worse.”

  
  


“...I’m sorry.” Oscar finally admits. “I… I shouldn’t have come, I’ve just been -“

“Nonono, it’s no trouble at all!” Terra ruffles his hair, eyes filled with sympathy. “Trust me, I know how you feel - well, at least with the whole feeling guilty for others, I dunno about any of the other stuff.”

Oscar laughs, placing the casserole in the oven. “Yeah, I get it.” 

They sit on the couch for a few minutes, the two of them in comfortable mutual silence, simply watching the news scroll by on the TV.

  
  


“Thank you.” Oscar says after a while. “I… kind of needed this.”

“No problem.” Terra replies, arms behind her head. “If you ever need a place to go to, the Cotta-Arc house is always open to you. And,” she chuckles, “Adrian really likes you, so that’s a bonus.”

Then, a thump on the outside. The two of them peak out the window, to see -

“Oh heck, Qrow got blackout drunk again.” Oscar hisses.

“Again?!” Terra exclaims, heading for the door. “Does this happen a lot?”

“I mean…” Ozpin mentally clamps a hand over Oscars mouth to save face for Qrow. Terra sighs, rolling her eyes. 

“Some adult figure.”

  
  
  


She goes out to check on him, and Oscar waits.

But then - familiar voices.

  
  


Voices of -

  
  


“Crap.” Oscar clutched the sides of his arms, fingers running over the cuts from when he was in the roof. “Super mega crap!”

“Hey.” Ozpin places a mental hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “You don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to-“

“No.” Oscar stands, taking a deep breath. “I need to do this. I’m gonna have to deal with them again, one way or another.”

Silence, but for the talking outside. 

He clenches his fists. He was  _ not _ going to cry.

The time for crying was past.

  
  


And as he steps out the door, he can feel Ozpin mentally recide, as he forces the words out of his throat -

  
  


“Hey guys.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> yes, if you cant tell, i love oscar a whole lot (givehimsomemorescreentime2K19)
> 
> Leave Kudos if you enjoyed! (or don't, that's cool too).
> 
> Discord: https://discord.gg/7fGKDJ2
> 
> tumblr: https://squipedmew.tumblr.com/
> 
> youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1PtaW8dTzCzlDfb76VRU9Q


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